Before diving in to this recommendation, I want to reiterate that you can make great music on any computer with the right specs. It's certainly not about having the newest or most expensive gear, but about having equipment you know can count on throughout every stage of the music production process for years to come...
That being said, I've researched and reviewed dozens of computers across the spectrum to provide you with solid recommendations at every price point - and if I have to narrow this list down to one, it would be hard not to recommend the 14" MacBook Pro [M1 Pro]. It may not have Apple's newest M2 chip, but it still sports an 8-core CPU with 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD - and all at a fair price.
I myself invested in the 16" model of this laptop mid-2022 and after several months of extensive use, I have only good things to say. If you want to see some in-depth benchmark tests with this model, check out this beautifully executed MacBook Pro review by Upwards.
For years now, Apple has produced some of the best laptops for music production - both for studio and live use. If you choose to invest in a MacBook Pro, you won't have to think about upgrading your computer again for a while and it will handle each phase of the music production process with absolute ease.
